Grain door for freight cars



March 30, 1926.4

J. A.' SCHMITZ E1' AL GRAIN-Doon pon FREIGHT cms 42 Sheets-Sheet 1 fJ..A. scHMl-rz :JAL GRAIN DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARvS Filed Apr-11 19; 1924 .Mitch 30;, 1926.

IMQ

Patented Mar. 30, `1926i Umransrari?.isA

PATENT orFIfCE.

JOSEPH Ajseinul'mz, onenigheid Ann ADYN E. sentirme, 'or EvANs'TomILmNois.

GRAIN' Doon Fon rnnienreans. A

Appiicaiioii filed Apijiiia, 1924-. serial rifare/,51%.V

To Hicham tmaycmioewz: r"

Be it known that We, vJosnrii A. SCHMITZ and ADYN E. SCHUYLEP., citizens of the United States, residing, resi'iectively,l at Chicago, iii the county o Cool?` and State of lllinois, and at Evanston, in the county of Cook and Stat-ek ot Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Grain Doors for Freight Cars, oiiivliicli the Our invention relates to a device which wel have invented for 'forininga-closure' for the-door opening ot' box lcars and is particularly adapted for use in shipping grain.. lt is -iioW 4the practice to einploy for this purpose standard door sections ina/le accord` iiigto various specifications adopted by the difiere-nt railroad companies, these doors being,` supplied to shippers by` the railroads.

vThe sections are uniformlyseven feet in length and twenty inches in Width, and are frequently constructed oi two 'thicknesses olf luinber making broken 3oints, the boards on one side being shorter than the other to 4 Y provide for a cross-piece at eacliend ottlie section of the saine thickness as the vother boards at that'side, these cross-piecesbeing designed to be placed 'tracing the insideofv l the car when thes'ection'is in use, as in 'the typical door illustrated in. the drawing. As ordinarily used, these door sections lare,

siinply 'nailed across the door opening, oney above another, troni three to. tive `sections- -V being einployed, ,soinetiines three sectionsbeiiig' used, as illustrated, and` and less. frequent-ly five.

In unloading' cars thus loadedjwith grain.

often tour,

it isthe coinnion practice to ren'iove the top dooifirst; then the next loiverniost, etc.. 1n.

succession, as the grain level is lowered'in the car. As the grain is coinpactedby the jarring;l to vivliitl'ithe lcar is subjected iii transportation, particularly the lower layers oi. the grain, it is by no means an easy rnat; ter to remove the doors.V This iscloiid-.ivlien a car has been. properly' loaded, by. forcing the ends ofthe door inwardly by heavy pointed iron' bars' .against the `PSsulef Ditv the grain to unseatthe nails, and 'thenfore ing tlie'doors upwardly. The second door troni the bottoni is usually especially hard to dislodge. In some cases', vvliere tlieship peilias ignorantly applied a reiiiforcenient. insidertlie closure connecting two doo '4 is sometimes necesaiy ,to/,drop an op kin the bottoni door to let the grain flow` out at that point to thel unloading hoppers. In any ease the doors are liable Vto be subjected to ifery' rough treatin-ent in removing theni,

and are frequently. sobroken or damaged as to be no longer serviceable.

#Since the door sections are'reinoved one by one, the flow of the vgrain proceeds by stages, .andasja nuinber` or' cars, irequently five or six, are siniultaiieously unloaded at onelong platform, .an interruption voit the unloadinl operation, due, it may; be-'t'o ii.

properfclosure ot'ionefofftlie cars, results `in dela-y to all the others.

to Wreck the closure ineinber, and the present invention inay be regarded as, an improve# nient-upon and a, modification ottlieldevice shown in Athat'application. l f

The principal :ol'ijects'` of* our present, iavention are to provide ardestruetible closure inenjbercofVnovel'construc ,n lgetfferadaptedk to serve tliei purposes to .vliich itfwas dcsigned than any hitherto 'known .to us,and toprovide a supporting lbai' -nici'iiber of novel arrangement with respect. to thestaii-:l-

ard door sections, whereby a more desirable grain door ,closure is provided ythan has heretofore been possible. Vith'theSe objectsrin view ive'liavedevised and invented rInf the `recoinpanyingV drawings We,-` have Vthe car -closure hereinafter described, and,

ill strated f our Vinvention in al preferred orin,fand also in aV modified forni oi enr' bodiinent. vligure lis aside elevation of a portion of a ,box ear showing our` invention in its 'preferred' forni applied thereto; Fig. 2 is avieiv ofv thesaine viewedyfronjil inside thel car-,"Fig. 3 Visa'i'rertical section kon the lineB--S ot' Fig. 1; Fig. 4L isan enlarged detail showing in vertical sec-tion'thelowei end ofthe wrench bar and connected parte;

and Fig. 5 is ya top plan view of the deStriict-` ible closure ineinber, detached and, drawn to a relatively sinall scale; Figs. 'Gto lQillusmi@ modified ferm of. our -i ii, the figures.essere@7 8 wie" essere@ im pests at the side oit the door opening.l on the ing 'respectirely to Figs. l, 2, 3 and V5, and Fig. l0 being a top plan view ot the entire closure and adjacent portions ot' the traine oi the car.

Als hereinbc'fore stated, the member of the -car door to .vhiclrour invention more particularly relates includesthe destructible bottom closure which is of composite or built-up construction and is made of two end sections l and 2 and a middle section 3 united b v a splicing-section 4 which is nailed to the other sections on theiroutcr sides. 'lhe sections l, 2 and 3 may be formed o'lf relatively thin pieces of board` and the sections are all of suitable uniform width to iorm a closure member which prete'rably is about eight inches high, thougl'i this may vary son'iewhat. The ends otl this closure n'iember are nailed lightly to the inside oi2 the car, and above this the door sections, ot ordinary construction, are nailed .dlesection 3 by means of bolts 7 and 8,

respectively. The bars 5; and 6 are of such materials and dimensions as to possess considerable strength "and stillness, and are eachl anchored to the floor olf' the car by means of a liat anchorage strip oit metal 9, one end ot' which engages the lower prongA of a s rong lol-shaped staple 10 driveninto the bar at its lowerfend. and the other end of which is carried inside the car and nailed to the-floor. The staple is ot heavy con; struction `and rounded between its prongs, und preferably the prongs are blunt and adapted to be driven into previously'formed holes of the oper size to make a tight lit. illie pivotal connection of the strip with one prong only of the staple enables the strip to be seated flat against the. floor whatever the inclination ol the bar and whatever irregularity there `maybe in the floor. Ready det-aci nent ofthe bars/5 and 6 tromthe anchorage strips a suitable pointed iron bar lor other implement which is oi" great 'Jrzlu'ztical importance is provided tor in this manner. The strips 5l may beA 'formed ot box etraljnng oi suitable weight (say about itl nge) Vthough wire may be employee ii" des .fuch length that itsrtop will extendto a point opposite the upper edge ot'the or rthird door section, 1n the present instance t the upper end ot each bur, which is ot"L secon d raises-'e n rough engagement with the upper prono' of a staple l2 similar to the staples 10 betere mentioned. "In applying the closure the tree ends ot the strip are passed over the top of the adjacent section lying ybelow the top or" the bar and are bent downwardly and fastened ,to suchsectiOn, or, if desired, the upper fold ot the strip may be bent upwardly and fastenedA tosuch upper section and the lower told nailed to the section below, as shown in Fig. It desired, the member 1l may be formed ot wire, though a flat strip ot box strapping is more suitable and more readily applied.

It will be observed that it all the parts are accurately made and true in form, there will be a gap between the bars 5 and 6 and the door sections, which gap at the bottom is the'width ot the thickness ot the splicing section 4. rlhis, however, is an advantage, since the grain has Ya tendency to iiow in a manner similar to that of a liquid under tluid pressure, and the weight ot the grain presses the door sections outwardly when the car is loaded. The stratum otgrain next the floor, however, is retarded by the friction between the loor and the grain immediately above it, so that the greatest sidewise pressure is not exerted against the clo-vk sure member, but against the lowermost door section. its the pressure on this lower section is greatest, it will spring the most vand the other sections successively less from the bottom towards the top, and the thickness ot the. splicing'section is such that in a loaded car the outer faces of the sections will all bring up against the bars 5 and 6, individually taking lup a considerable portion ot the strain before they do so.

n in applying the closure, the anchorage strips 9 are drawn snug in nailing` them to the floor, so that thek closure member below the doors will be permitted little or nooutward movement. Since the tops oit' the inclined bars 5 and 6 are secured to the top of the upper doorsection near opposite ends of such section and near where thesection bears against the posts at the sides ot the car opening, the springing ot the doors in the manner described will evidently result in an."approximatelyequal distribution of the pressure of the grain along the bars and'between the side posts and floor oit the car.

To open the door the bottom closure strip, l n

consisting olf the end members l, 2 and the spllcing'strip li, is first wrecked or torn away. This is accomplished byrreleasing the upper ends ot the bars 5, 6, the securing ends of which are ,detachable from the.

anchoringboards by inserting a blade such asthat oi a chisel beneath the upper ends ofthe members 5,6 and prying` the told-ed strips ll loose,the tacks by which the endsof the latter are secure-d readily yielding and the strap bending to permit it to be with-` lOO los

drawn. .he upper ends` of the bars are thenpulled outwardf,;as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the splicing strip being so-irmlyv secured thereto that ittilts outward. .with the bars' and is torn away from the endV stripsV 1,2 to which it isnai'led. The flexible connection to the strapv 9`permits the bars to swing outward as described. After the-comey 'posite bottom strip has been ruptured inl this manner it is readily removed from the doorway. v v l Describing` now the modified form of our invention shown inv Figs. 6 to 10, the 'def structible closure m-ember lis of composite or built-up `construction quite similar to that above described and includes .three inner sections, a short end section 13, an. intermediate sectionlll, anda long end section 15, united by ancutie-r splicing section 16, which .n opening on tlieinside of the car, as inthe preferred form before described, and above the destruct-ible closure member the door-seo tions are nailed to the'posts in the usual man- Iier.l Y

by a bolt passing through the sectionsv 14 and 16 is a wrenchA bar 17 ofadequate stir?,- ness and strength. This wrench bar entends from its lower end diagonally'across the center line of thecary door sections to the post' on the opposite side, to whichit is irmly secured in a suitable n'iannen-v as by meansfof a piece of box strapping 18 passing around its endV andnailedtothe post.y The lower end of the wrench bar` is anchored to the floor of the car by means of a strip of sheet metal 19, one end oit whiclr engages the lower prong ofa strong .U- shaped staple 2O driven into the bar at its lower end and the other end of which is 'arried inside the car and nailed to the door.

lVhen the,V grain isjto be unloaded the staples 10 or 20, as the case maybe) are withdrawn by aA suitable tool, and the bars 5 and 6 (or t-he bar 17) employed as wrench bars to break away the center portion of the closure ineinben the composite construction y described facilitating such operation.- The intermediate closure section lnailed to the splicing section and both bolted tothe wrench Vbars -iorms a strong rugged central block In this manner an opening is provided atl the bottoni of the ,closurethrough Wliiclithe Pivotally secured to the closure member grainmay low, and: asl the grain isA removed tli'eup'per, intermediate and lower door sections'are taken down in order.

`After the -cari is unloaded the anchoring strips: 9" and 111' (orv 19,I and, 18) mayA be re'- inoved, and-it serviceable reconi'iectedv by bars 5 and; 6. (,'oirthe bar 1?., asftlie case may be) and thel closure member repaired or replacerhso that it may be used again.` Obviouslythe provision of the.- destructible; bottom'closure member increases the capac-V ity of the carto the extent of its height, and.

tlii'sadvantage is'rjattainedi by means ot` a relatively cheap 'and light member whichv can be repaired or replaced at slight expense ai'tei" being used; 'i i i f In the drawings illustrati-ng. the preferred 'torni oigouriinyention the wrench bars are secured tofthe destructible' closure lnieii'iher at points somewhat nearer y.the center of the means ot the staples 120 with the wrench do-or Opening than the sides, and'spread up,- i.

wardly to points on the joint between the seo'nd and third door sections `adjacent the sides or the door opening. The pointsv of attachment` of the bars and their inclination i may of course bevaried somewhat, and the i upper ends of .the bars4r may extend to the car frame atzthe vsides oi the door opening and be directly connected:thereto, linl the invention above described,l (eee nig. (i).- invstead4 of being indirectly connected'tlirough -saine manner as the. modiiied fermoir' ourf gagement and the loop of the head provides. i'

`for readj-.f' detachinent,see this alternative constructionl illustrated at thebottoin of 1 Fig. 8. Y'

le claim:l Si. The `combination ot a lowerfdestruc-v tible closure member for a car closure whichincludes horizontal door sections, said'mem ber including an intermediate splicing sectionand lapping end sectionslightly secured to said interii'iediate section, andan exterior upwardly extending wrench bar 1. secured Lto said splicing section, said wrench bai."heiiig detachahly .anchored to the car loorvand'` detachably connected at its upper end with thecar ramefadjacent theside of the door opening,

ln.'The;combination vof a lower destruce tib'e.cl9siireinemberitcr elosurejpwh-ch includes horizonte door sections, said ineinber including an intermediate splicing section and lapping end sectionslightly secured to said intermediate section, and an exterior upwardly extending wrench'bar Secured to said splicing section, said wrench 'nar being anchored to the car ioor and secured at its upper end against said door section.

3. ri`he combination of a lower destructible closure ineinber i'or a car closure which includes horizontal door sections, said inemf bei' including an intermediate splicing section and lapping end sections lightly secured vto said intermediate section, and an inclined wrench bar detaehably anchored to the car floor at the bottom and secured to said in-A Y and also including an outer splicing section lightly secured to said end sections and lying outside of said plane, and an upwardly extending wrench bar having an inner plane ita-'Te contiguous to the outer face of the vsplicing section and secured thereto at its bottoni end, said wrench bar being detachably anchored to the car floor and connected at its top to the car raine'adjacent the side ot" the door opening.

5. The combination of a lower destructible member for a car closure which includes horizontal door sections, 'and an upwardly inclined wrench bar secured to said destructible member and having a plane inner tace spaced away from the door sectionsl a distance less than their normal outward spring Aunder grain pressure, said ineinber being anchored to the car floor and connected at its top to the car 'traine adjacent the side of the door opening.

6, The combination of a lowei destructiblev closure member for a car closure which includes horizontal door sections, and an exterior upwardly-exteiiding wrench bar secured to said destructible ineinbor and having a plane inner tace spaced away from the door sections distance less than their norn'ial outward spring under grain pressure, said member being anchored to the cai" floor and secured at its upper end.

7. The combination of a lower destructible member for a car closure which includes horizontal doorl sections, said destructible member including an outer ineinber extending outside the plane of the door sections, and anl upwardlyezitending wrench bar secured to said destructible nieinbe and Y having aninner ia'ce plane spaced away from the door sections a distance less than their normal outward Vspring under gram pressure and said Vmember being anchored to the car lioor and connected at its top to the car iframe adjacent the side or' the door opening. i

8. ln a car door closure includinghori zontal door sections and a destructible botN toin closure member and a wrench bar secured thereto and having connection at .1 top wth the car traine adjacent the side ol' the door opening, ineans for detachably anchoring` the lower end of said bar to the "lem-comprising a U-shaped staple frictionally engaging sockets in said bar and a strip oit sheet nietal engaging one prong of Said staple and adapted to be nailed to the car iiooif. n I n ,y i

l). A closure tor a .car door vopening' eX- tendng horizontally across said opening andl overlapping and lying against the inner tacos oi the posts attlie sides of said opening, a bar inclining upwardly from the lloor ot the' cai' upon the outer side oi said closure to a point adjacent one of the posts at the.

g', an anchor meinsides of said door openin berextending from the vlower end part oi:`

said ar beneath said closure to they inside ot said cai", means securing saidanchor.v

ineiiiber to said bar and to the iioor. of the car inside ot said closure and inea-ns for securing the upper end of said bar to said post.

'10. Aclosure for a car door opening eX- tending horizontally across .said opening;

and overlapping and lying against the innere t faces of the posts at the sides of said opening, said closure comprising a lower section having a central member and end ineinbers, said end members partially overlapping and lying again'st'the inner side ofthe extremities ot said central member, a bar securedto'said'central'ineniber and extend-A` ing upwardly 'from the floor olf the-car upon the outer side oi said closure, means securing, said Vclosure comprising a lower seo-v,

tionfhavinff a central member and end inemn C `u be s,v said end members partially overlapping and lying against the inner side oi" the extremities of said central nieinber, a' barsecured to said central ineinber and extendingupwardly from the floor ot the car upon the outer side oi said closure, an anchor extending iroin the lower end part ot' said bar beneath said` lower section to the inside of the car, means securing said anchor member t@ .Said bali and .to the lievi' @t the ear inside ol said closure and means for securing the,

upper' end of said vbar against outward movement. y

12. A closure for a car door opening eX- tendiiig horizontally across said opening and overlapping and lying against the inner faces of the posts at the sides of said opening, said closure comprising a lower section having a central member and end members, said end members partially overlapping and lying against the inner side of the eXtremities or' said central member, a bar inclining upwardly from. the floor of the car upon the outer side of said closure to a point adjacent oneotl the posts at the sides ol the door opening, means securing the lower end of said bar to said cent al member and to the floor ot' the car and means securing the upper end ot' the bar to said post.

18. A closure for a car door opening extending horizontally across said opening and overlapping` and lying against the inner faces of the posts at the sides of said ope ning, said closure comprising a'lower section having a vcentral member and end members, said end members partially overlapping and lying against the inner side of the extremis" ties of said central member, a bar mclinmg upwardly from the floor of the car upon the outer side of said closure to ar point adj acent one of Vthe posts at the sides of the door opening, means securing the lower end or said bar to said central member and to the 'floor of the car, and means securing the upper end o' said bar` against outward moveing, said closure comprising a lower section having a central member and end members, said end members partially i' overlapping and lying against the inner side of the ei;-Y

tremities of said central member, av bar inclinmg upwardly trom the floor of the car upon the outer side'or said closure to a point adjacent one of the posts at the sides oie the door opening, means securing the lower end of said bar to said central member, an anchor member extending from the lower end part of said bar beneath said lower 'tending horizontally across said opening and overlapping and lying against the inner races of the posts at the sides' of said opening, said closure comprising a lower section having a central member and end members,

said end. members partially overlapping and lying against the inner side of the extremities of said central member, a bar incliniiig upwardly from the floor of the car upon the outer side of said closure to a point adjacent one o'- the posts at the sides of the door opening, means securing the lower end of said bar to said central member, an anchor member extending from the lower end part of said baribeneath said lower section to the` i inside of said car, lmeans securing said ainchor member to said bar and to the floor of the car inside of'said closure, and means se curing the upper end or said bar to said post. JOSEPH A. SCHMITZ. ADYN E. SCHUYLER. 

